


Bonding Over Injuries

by irphanfic



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Angst, Broken Bones, Descriptive Nightmares, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Single Parents, mentions fo blood, single parent Dan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 04:18:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irphanfic/pseuds/irphanfic
Summary: Evan Lester and Millie Howell have hated each other for who knows how long and so do their dads; until Millie gets injured. How will the two adults adapt to their kids’ new friendship after being enemies for so long?





	Bonding Over Injuries

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why but just yesterday I noticed I hadn't uploaded this fic on ao3 but yes on my tumblr and it's so strange but anyways, here you have it. 
> 
> i don’t really know anything about medical things and I have never experienced a broken bone either so probably this is inaccurate and i’m sorry
> 
> As always, I want you to know that english is not my first language so I apologize if you find any typos or mistakes, my fics are only proofread by me so I'm sorry.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy my stories and any type of feedback is welcome!

“Dad, c'mon, I want to go on the swings and if we don’t go fast the big kids are going to take them…” a 7 year old Evan Lester said as he dragged his father faster to the park.

“Evan, we aren’t in a hurry, see? We are already here. Now go, have fun!” Phil said walking towards one of the few empty benches that weren’t occupied by parents, relatives or nannies after seeing his son run rapidly to the only free swing that was left. 

He watched him swing carefree and happy for a while and reassuring himself that Evan was fine he took out the book he had brought to read. It was going to be a relaxing day.

He was engrossed on his book when he spotted a shadow next to him, knowing it was Evan. “You tired?” he chuckled, knowing his son was such an energetic child he never got tired.

“Dad, you know I never get tired!” Evan huffed, “just coming here to tell you that I will be playing cops and robbers with other kids and… Millie.” he pulled a disgusted face when he said her name.

Millie Howell was Evan’s classmate. They both had been in the same class since they were babies and never got along well. Phil and Millie’s father, Dan, had often ended up at the principal’s office after his son and Millie had pranked each other in some way or another, getting on a fight that ended up with both of them being scolded by their fathers.

As stubborn fathers they both were, they always thought the main fault was the other’s child, so they often ended up arguing and never tried to get along either. They were worse than their children to be honest.

“Oh Millie,” Phil rapidly scanned the park around to spot her father, not really wanting to see the other parent, but relaxed when he didn’t see Dan. He guessed Millie was here with a nanny so he didn’t mind it much. “Well, don’t worry about her, okay? Now go, be the best cop you can and catch all those robbers!”

And with that Evan ran toward his team, who were probably conspiring on what to do to catch the other kids. Phil put his book aside and decided to follow the game, it was entertaining to see his ginger munchkin run around to catch the other kids. That when he heard a loud sharp cry. 

Phil stood up, seeing 7 year old Millie Howell on the floor, her leg badly twisted, a streak of blood making its way down her forehead. He hated his father, but he wasn’t a bad guy so he rapidly ran towards her, Evan next to her, a scared expression on his face, his blue eyes watering.

“I’m sorry Millie, I…” Evan was saying to her when Phil arrived. “Dad! I was chasing Millie and…” his little and scared voice was heard. Phil turned to him and told him not to worry, but now they needed to check on Millie first.

He crouched down, seeing her leg, it was probably broken, he needed to get her to the hospital… “Millie, I’m Evan’s dad, where does it hurt?”

“My… my leg a-and my head” the girl said, tears streaming down her face, lifting her left hand to where she had scratched her forehead, finding blood.

“Hey, don’t move, you will hurt yourself more” Phil told her, posing a hand on her shoulder, “who is with you? I didn’t see your dad…”

Phil’s sentence was cut by an ederly woman’s voice, who was trying to get to Millie as fast as she could, “Millie dear, oh my god!”

“Grandma I fell and hit my head a-and my le-leg…” Millie started saying, the older woman tried crouching down to her and pick her granddaughter up but Phil stopped her “Miss, we need to get to the hospital, I will call and ambulance, okay?” and with that he took his mobile and dialed, blurting out the details as he waited for the ambulance to arrive his gaze between his son, Millie and Millie’s grandma, who was also trying not to cry in front of her granddaughter.

Other parents were starting to crowd around to see what had happened and even though Phil tried to get them away from the girl Millie saw herself overwhelmed by so many people around, it was dizzy, she couldn’t focus on her grandma anymore, “Grandma…” was all she managed to say when she blacked out.

Phil crouched down again and tried to wake up Millie by shaking her a bit. It wasn’t good going to sleep after hitting yourself on the head.

Evan’s voice brought him back to reality “Dad, the ambulance is here!”

The paramedics came running towards them, one of them stood outside, dispersing the other curious people that weren’t allowing the easy access to the little girl. It all happened too fast, since Phil was too shocked to function properly, Millie’s grandma grabbed him and Evan by the hands and loaded them also in the ambulance, taking the four of them to the hospital.

It wasn’t a relaxed day after all.

________________

Phil, Evan and Amelia (after a quick introduction Phil had finally discovered the name of the woman) found themselves in the wating room of the hospital. Phil had a comforting hand rubbing repeatedly on Amelia’s back, trying to calm her down as she called her son, who had been working but after hearing the words “Millie” and “hospital” even Phil could sense Dan’s distress and nervousness towards the situation.

Evan was sitting on his lap, face buried on his chest, he wasn’t crying he was just staring into space. Phil was hugging him, passing his other hand through his sweaty ginger hair, whispering comforting words to him but he didn’t seem to react.

He didn’t know how many minutes had passed but suddenly a nervous and shaky Dan entered the waiting room, Amelia quickly noticing him and bringing him to a hug. Dan latched onto her, a pained “mum” left his throat while he cried harder on her shoulder, Amelia on her tip-toes to reach her tall son’s head and cradle her fingers through his head as he was doing with Evan.

“How is she? My little girl…” Dan’s low and hoarse voice asked his mother.

“She is fine, the doctors said she has broken her leg and they are doing a quick surgery.” Amelia said, but Dan sensed she wasn’t finished, “but she hit her head and had a scratch, and… and she blacked out.” Dan let out another sob at this. His poor little girl. This couldn’t be happening. Amelia held him closer as she finsihed her explanation, “they are scanning her, they don’t know for sure if it is because of the impact of the floor but she is fine, Dan. She is fine.”

Once Dan had calmed down a bit he noticed the presence to his left. “Phil what…?”

Phil lifted his gaze from his son to focus it on the other man, “Dan I…”

“You know each other?” Amelia asked, not really knowing what’s going on.

“Yeah, Evan and Millie are classmates… but I still don’t know what he is doing here” Dan didn’t explain much, not really wanting to tell his mother that he totally despised the man in front of him, but the tone of his voice betrayed him.

Amelia noticed this, and before Phil could explain she spoke, “This nice man and his son helped Millie before I could get to her, so the least you could do is thank them.”

“You helped my daughter?” Dan asked the blue eyed, surprised Phil would do such thing when they hated each other.

“She needed help Dan, that fact that we despise each other doesn’t mean I’m not gonna help your daughter if she is injured.” Phil said, a bit annoyed that they couldn’t lay their stupid anger towards each other even in a moment like this.

Dan was about to thank Phil when a door to his right oppened,“family of Millie Howell?” a doctor’s voice was heard, Dan sprinted to him, asking at least four questions per second. He only calmed down when he felt his mum’s presence next to him and let the doctor speak.

“She is fine. We did a small surgery on her leg and will have to wear a cast for at least a month. About her blacking out it wasn’t because she hit her head too hard, it was because she felt too overwhlemed and with the pain she had it happened. She is sleeping now if you want to see her.” the doctor explained, Dan and Amelia finally calming down and following the doctor to Millie’s room.

Amelia looked back one more time, looking at Phil who was hugging Evan again, whispering to him that Millie was okay.

________________

Dan entered the room practically running, he cried again when he saw his little girl, laid down on the hospital white sheets, her casted leg up in the air with a machine that was holding it up, the only thing that wasn’t white coloured was her long brown hair sprawled our in the also white pillow.

“Millie, my little girl, you are going to be okay…” Dan kissed her bandaged forehead and slumped down into one of the chairs next to the bed. Amelia repeated Dan’s gesture and sat down next to her son.

“I’m so glad she is fine mum, I was so scared when you told me over the phone…” Dan confessed looking at her.

“I was scared too. I saw her tripping on a rock and falling down…” her voice was a bit shaky, but she took a breath and gained her composture “but Phil is younger and faster, he was there before I could even stand up from the bench and remained calm through all, I don’t think I could have done that much… and his little boy, he was so scared. He didn’t talk or cry all the ride here, Dan I think he is still in shock…”

Dan was having an internal battle now. His mum was right, Millie was fine now and mostly thanks to Phil, who had helped her on the first place. He looked back to Millie, who was peacefully sleeping. She was fine. She was going to be fine.

“Go, thank him properly. He was still here when we entered the room…” his mum’s voice said.

“I’ll be back in five minutes, I promise, I…”

“Go Dan, I will stay here, I’m not going anywhere.” his mum reassured him with a small smile.

Dan nodded at her before leaving the room.

________________

The brown haired was thinking how he should approach Phil. They weren’t friends, he didn’t know how you should thank a person you hate. He was so deep in though that only a cry startled him.

“Evan shh…” he spotted Phil, still in the seat that he had been before, cradling a sobbing Evan to his chest.

“It-its my fa-ault dad,” Evan tried to say between sobs, “I cha-chased Millie and she fe-fell, it’s my fault s-she is injured!”

Evan felt bad because Millie was hurt. He though it was his fault. Of course not. As his mother had explained Millie tripped and fell, it wasn’t Evan’s fault, not at all.

“Evan…” a voice that wasn’t his dad’s called him, and both Lester’s turned their gaze to Dan, who was slowly approaching them and slowly sat down next to Phil, looking at Evan.

“Mr. Howell I’m so-sorry Millie is hurt be-because of me, I promise I will nev-never bother her again I just want her to get better.” Evan told him while fat tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Evan hey,” Dan softly called him again, and the kid looked at him with a scared expression, worried Dan was going to scold him, “Millie is okay and it’s not your fault she fell, okay?”

“But I chased her! If I hadn’t chased her, she wouldn’t be in the hospital now!” Evan cried harder, so Phil brought him as closer as he could, his right hand caressing his hair, hoping the action would help to calm his son down.

Dan looked worriedly at Phil, who looked back at him with a lost expression and the brown haired decided he needed to do something. “Evan please, look at me”

At least a minute passed till Evan finally looked back at Dan, but quickly looked down, as if he was ashamed for something.

“Evan please, look at me” Dan repeated and the kid finally did, his blue eyes now red from crying. “It’s not your fault Millie fell, she tripped over and twisted her leg badly, that’s all. Don’t feel guilty okay? And she is going to be okay, don’t worry.”

“You promise she is going to be okay?” Evan’s innocent voice asked him, the boy had calmed down already.

“Yeah, I promise, you can come tomorrow to visit her if you want. She is sleeping now and needs to rest but she will be awake tomorrow.” Dan told him with a smile, “I think she would like to see you.”

“But she hates me…” Evan reminded him.

“Believe me, she will be happy to see you, I will tell her what you and your dad did for her and she will not hate you anymore.” Dan promised. He was sure after he explained everything to Millie she would understand.

Evan just nodded at him, tiredness already catching up with him, “thank you Mr. Howell” he whispered before hugging himself closer to his dad’s chest and trying not to close his eyes to not fall asleep there but not succeding at all.

Dan turned his gaze to Phil, who tilted his head down a bit so he could kiss the top of Evan’s head.

“Thank you Phil” the brown haired told him, getting Phil’s attention, “if it wasn’t for you probably Millie would have a more serious injure so, thank you.”

“No need to thank me Dan, anyone would have helped Millie.” Phil responded, not sure about what more to say.

“But the fact that you hate me and you helped her anyways makes it even more valuable for me, I cannot hate you after this… not anymore” he confessed. He couldn’t hate Phil anymore.

“I cannot hate you either, Dan.” Phil also agreed with him, “I was scared, you know? I stayed calm for Evan and Millie and also even your mum but… I really don’t want to be in a situation like that again.”

Phil looked down at Evan, who was now sleeping against Phil’s chest. He didn’t really want to have a similar situation with Evan, he didn’t know how he would have handled it if it had been him.

“Promise you will come back tomorrow to visit Millie? I’m sure she would like to see you both.” Dan’s voice startled him from his thoughts.

“Are you sure? She will need to rest…” Phil was right, maybe she wouldn’t be in her best mood tomorrow, after getting out of surgery and all she might still feel poorly. They wouldn’t want to disturb.

Dan realized Phil was right, maybe Millie would still need a few more days of rest but he really wanted to meet Phil and Evan again, mostly so Millie could thank them too. “You are right… but, what do you say we trade phone numbers and I will call you when she is ready to have visits?”

“Yeah, that would be the best.” Phil replied trying to get his phone out of his pocket but Evan’s weight was too heavy and was difficult to move with a child drapped around your torso.

Dan chuckled at Phil’s movements so before he would wake Evan up with them, Dan took out his phone from the front pocket of his jeans, “tell me your number, I will send you a message so you can have mine.”

Phil blurted out his phone numbers and seconds latter he felt his butt vibrate, making him squirm and making them both laugh a bit. “I think we should go, I need to put this little one to bed before he crushes one of my ribs.” Phil commented, standing up from the seat and making Dan do the same.

“Yeah, it’s getting late and I should come back to Millie… I will call you, okay?” Dan said, walking backwards.

“Okay, bye Dan.” Phil said softly, before turning around and heading to the exit.

“Bye Phil.” but the blue eyed didn’t hear him anymore, he was already gone.

It was going to be a long night at the hospital for the Howells.

________________

Phil woke up to silence for the first time in years. He supposed Evan was still asleep after the day they had had yesterday, the lack of sound of the TV cartoons early in the morning was the main fact for it.

He decided they both needed a comforting breakfast. He was still thinking about yesterday, Millie getting rushed to the hospital, Evan feeling guilty because of it, Dan not hating him… It had been too much.

Phil walked barefoot to the kitchen and started to take the ingredients to make a whole breakfast when he heard a crash coming from Evan’s room. He rushed to it, opening the door only to find Evan sitting on the floor covered in silver glitter, other bottles scattered around him.

“Dad sorry I woke you up I was making a ’‘get well soon” card for Millie and I wanted to put glitter on it but I couldn’t reach for it and…“ Evan looked scared that his dad was going to tell him off, but Phil was nowhere near mad, he couldn’t be.  

’'Evan no, don’t worry, I was already awake” Phil said in the softest voice possible, letting Evan know he wasn’t angry, “I think it is really sweet of you to make Millie a card, she is going to love it, you will see.” Phil picked him up, covering himself in glitter too.

“You think so?” Evan asked him, latching his little arms onto his shoulders.

“Yeah, but to finish the card you first need to have a shower to get all that glitter off of you,” Phil chuckled, making Evan laugh, “and breakfast too, okay?”

“Can you help me later with it, dad? I think I will need help…” Evan asked shyly. He wanted the card to be perfect and he couldn’t make it perfect alone.

“Of course, but first… shower!” and with that Phil fastly walked to the bathroom, making Evan laugh loudly.

________________

Dan had spent the night at the hospital, Amelia wanted to stay but Dan insisted his mother to go home and rest now, that she could come in the morning. Even though they both were stubborn and Amelia didn’t really want to leave her son and graddaughter alone she was tired and promised to be back the next morning.

It was 10am when he woke up. He was stretching his body muscles hoping to get the blood working again when…

“Good morning sleeping beauty” Millie’s cheeky voice said, looking at him with a smirk.

“Millie!” Dan squealed, realxing a bit at the sight of his daugher being alright so he rushed to her, engulfing her in a hug, trying not to disturb her clay-covered leg. “Are you alright? Does anything hurt? Do I need to call a doctor?” Dan started asking questions so fast Millie had to stop him.

“Dad! I’m okay!” Millie told him, getting free from the hug he was giving her, “the cast is a bit uncomfortable but I’m okay.”

Dan sighed in relief, and grabbed the seat he had been sleeping it closer to the bed, so he could be closer to his daughter. “I’m so glad you are fine Millie, they told me you hit your head and you blacked out… You remember what happened?” Even though the doctor had told them it wasn’t because of the impact against the floor, Dan was still worried.

Millie looked back at the cast and the back to her dad again before answering “I was playing cops and robbers and Evan Lester was chasing me, and the I fell and his dad came and then grandma was there and suddenly a mass of people was around me and that’s all…” she didn’t know if she needed to remember anything more, she was unsure about what happened after her grandma arrived.

“Hey Millie, it’s fine, you don’t need to remember anything else, it’s okay.” Dan reassured her, caressing her long hair.

“Dad, I know we hate the Lesters but… Mr. Lester helped me yesterday. I was so scared and he did his best to get me safe from the people around, do you think once I’m out of the hospital I could thank them?” Millie asked in a low voice. She didn’t hate the Lesters anymore but maybe her dad still did.

Dan looked surprisedly at her, but not in a bad way. He was glad she understood the situation and he didn’t need to explain twice what the Lester’s had done. “Sweetie, I don’t hate them either… I know you and Evan never got on well, and neither did his father and I but after yesterday we talked and everything is fine. Evan felt guilty about you being in the hospital…” Dan explained, he felt the need to tell her all, “He said that as he was the one chasing you it was his fault you eneded up being at the hospital.”

“But it was no one’s fault, right?” Millie wondered. She could have tripped even if Evan wasn’t chasing her.

“Of course not, it was a misfortune that you fell, but no, it wasn’t your or Evan’s fault, okay?” Dan paused for a bit before speaking again, “once the doctor checks on you and if you are feeling better I can call them so they can come and visit you, would you like that?”

Millie looked at him with her big brown eyes and eagerly nodded a few times, “Yes dad please, I want to talk to them, tell them I’m okay.”

“I will, now, wait here till I call the doctor. Your grandma is probably on her way now to…” but Dan’s sentence was cut by a loud “Grandma!” from Millie, instantly opening her arms to hug her grandma who was bringing her a beautiful bunch of flowers.

Amelia left the flowers in the bedside table, and hugged her granddaughter, without even sparing a glance toward her son, who used the moment to disappear and go call the doctor.

And Phil. He also needed to call Phil.

But the doctor first.

________________

After the doctor had made all the check-ups and told the Howells that Millie needed to say for one more night at the hospital, Amelia managed to convince her son to go home and shower, change his clothes and that way he could also bring some spare clothes and pjs for him and Millie, so they could be more comfortable at night.

As he was entering back the hospital Dan called Phil before going up Millie’s room.

“Yes?” a deep voice responded at the other line.

“Phil? It’s Dan.”

“Oh, hey, how is Millie? Is she okay? And you? Are you okay Dan? ” Phil asked him. 'How is he even so thoughful’ Dan thought.

“Yes, don’t worry we are okay. Millie needs to stay for one night more but she is fine. You can come…” Dan replied, but he didn’t get to say anything more when a voice that wasn’t Phil was heard over the phone.

“Dad stop speaking on the phone! You need to help me with Millie’s card!” Evan’s distant but loud voice was all he heard.

“Wait Dan,” even if Phil had put the hand over the phone he could still hear the conversation, “I’m talking to Mr. Howell right now Evan, wait a minute, okay? We need to make sure Millie is fine before we can go over.”

Evan was making Millie a card? This side of the Lesters was so new to Dan he didn’t even know what to think.

“I’m back, sorry, what were you saying?” Phil’s now clear voice asked him.

Dan came back to reality and continued, “I was just saying that Millie is fine and wants to see you both. You can come by late if you want, but visiting hours end at 7pm.” he warned Phil. It was lunchtime now but he didn’t know when they would appear.

“We will be around at 3pm if that’s okay” Phil told him, not too late so in case Millie got tired they could let her rest.

“We will be waiting, room 206. See you later then”

“See you later Dan.”

And with that their call was over.

________________

The Howells were watching some boring tv show on the hospital TV. Millie now was sitting down on the bed, her broken leg no longer up in the machine, and her dad and grandma next to her, both sitting on the uncomfortable chairs.

“I’m so bored… ugh” Millie complained and Dan looked at her with a guilty expression.

“Sorry Millie, I didn’t rememeber to bring you any books or games… I didn’t realize.” Dan apologized. He arrived to their house, showered, picked any change of clothes they would need and rushed out of the door, not even thinking about bringing his daughter something to read or colour.

Suddenly a knock on the door was heard, they all three looked at each other and before they could question it Amelia’s voice was heard “C'mon in!”

“Mr. Lester and Evan hi!” Millie said with a happy voice when she spotted a tall man and a shy child  who just waved at them all while entering her room, glad that they had come to see her.

Dan stood up from his seat and walked next to the end of the bed so he could properly greet them, “thank you for coming guys, it means a lot.”

Phil gave him a smile (which he returned) and turned again to the girl, “how are you feeling Millie?”

“I’m fine Mr. Lester, dad told me what you two did for me and I wanted to thank you, so, thank you” she chuckled at the sentence, looking at the Lesters and making the adults laugh.

“You are welcome, and call me Phil, please. Also, we brought you some things to make your hospital experience more bearable.” and with that Phil lifted a bag filled with colouring books and some card and board games that he and Evan had at home.

“Thank you! Dad forgot to bring anything, at least I can do something fun now” She stuck out her tiny tongue at her dad, who huffed at her but also couldn’t stop from smiling.

Phil handed Millie a card game, which she excitedly took and turned to her grandma, who was already turning her chair to look at her and start playing.

Millie looked around and saw that her dad and Phil weren’t talking, it seemed like they were avoiding each other gazes, she was about to ask them if they wanted to play to avoid the awkwardness they were creating when she spotted Evan, who was next to his dad picking up some string he had on the sleeve.

“Evan, you want to join?” Millie asked her classmate, who was acting really shy towards everyone, even though he wasn’t that shy looked at her surprisedly at the invitaiton. They weren’t friends, they both knew that, but Millie didn’t want to stay enemies anymore. And he hopped Evan didn’t either.

All of them looked at her as if she was mad. She just wanted to befriend Evan, was it even that bad?

“Okay,” Evan replied, making his way to the free chair next to Amelia so he could also reach the bed to play.

Dan and Phil couldn’t believe the scene in front of their eyes. Their kids, who had hated each other since they were babies were playing a card game together. And having fun.

Amelia noticed their surprised faces and laughed at them, “you, the dads, go and have a coffee or something, we are having fun right?” both kids hummed at this.

“Okay, we will be back in a few minutes” Dan said, already walking to the door, a confused Phil next to him, who suddenly felt a pair of small hands around him, “Dad”

Phil crouched down to him, worried about his behaviour, “Evan, what’s wrong?”

Evan leaned in and started whispering into his ear so none of the other aldults could hear him, even though they were watchin the sweet scene it was happening in front of them, “don’t be back to late, I want us to give Millie her card soon, okay?” he told him.

His son was worried because he hadn’t had the opportunity to give Millie the card yet. And he wanted to do it with his dad. Oh Evan…

“Don’t worry, one coffee and we will be back, alright?” Phil whispered back, kissing his forehead and standing up, “now go, don’t make your other two players wait”

And with that the two dads walked out of the door, smiling at the loud laugh the heard after the door was closed.

________________

Dan and Phil were now sitting at the hospital cafeteria, both sipping the not-so-bad coffee that they had ordered only a few minutes ago. The silence between them was getting awkward.

“So…” both of them spoke at the same time, letting out a chuckle. Dan gestured to Phil so he spoke first, having another sip of his coffee.

“So, how are you holding up? I know Millie is fine but I cannot even imagine how it is for you.” Phil said, his tone full of concern.

Dan tried not to show a surprised expression at Phil’s question. How was the man that had been his enemy for years asking him how he was? Okay, they didn’t hate each other anymore but it was strange for him…

“Actually, I’m glad it is just a broken bone to be honest. It could have been much worse, I still think what would have happened if the impact on her head had been harder and…” Dan looked down at his coffee, not really wanting to show Phil his watery eyes.

“Hey, Dan don’t think about what would have happened, she is fine and that’s what matters.” Phil cautiously moved one of his hands to gently touch Dan’s wrist, who looked up at it and then back at Phil.

The blue eyed man noticed this and was about to retract his hand when Dan properly grabbed it, playing with Phil’s long fingers.

“Thank you” Dan said, looking back at the man in front of him, who offered him a small smile before taking another sip of his coffee.

“No need to thank me, Dan. I’m glad I helped.” Phil replied. He looked down at their hands before speaking again, “I have been thinking that if our kids have been able to set their differences aside we also should, only if you want to of course.”

Dan was about to response when Phil continued talking, “I know we established that we didn’t hate each other anymore but I think we could be friends maybe? I don’t now, I just know that I don’t wa…”

“Phil!” Dan almost shouted, finally grabbing the other man’s attention and stopping his rambling, “I think I want to be friends with you too. Our kids seemed to be getting friendlier with each other a few minutes ago so I also think we could get to know each other better too.”

That’s when Phil realized they had been in the cafeteria for half an hour and he had promised Evan he would be back soon. “C'mon let’s go back, Evan has a little surprise for Millie and I promised him I would be with him when he gives it to her.”

Dan already knew what he was talking about. It had to be the card for sure; but he pulled on a fake surprised face not letting Phil know he already knew, “Oh really? Well, then let’s go.”

The both stood up, both noticing the lack of the other’s hand and missing the other’s touch.

It had been nice to have a reassuring touch form a… friend, Dan thought.

________________

As soon as they both entered the room again Evan launched himself to his father’s arms, who picked him up and led him to the bag that they have left before.

At the same time Dan walked up to the bed and stood next to Millie, asking her questions about the game to distract her about the surprise.

“Millie,” Evan called her, grabbing her attention and clibming down his father and approaching her bed, this time Dan walked next to Phil so Evan could be closer to Millie, “here, my dad and I made you this card so you can get better soon, hope you like it.”

Evan handed her the green paper card, who was filled with silver glitter, some doodles around it and a blue dark text that said “get well soon Millie!”

“Oh, thank you so much Evan! It is so nice and I love the doodles! You should definitely draw something on my cast!” Millie said, clutching the card with both hands before putting it next to the flowers that her grandma had brought earlier.

“Maybe we should wait to be at home for that, okay Millie?” Dan told them, knowing the two of them would have every hospital sheet painted in 0.2 seconds.

“Yeah, we could arrange a play date for you two once you are out of the hospital, since I suspect you Millie will have to stay home for some days before going back to school right?” Phil suggested.

Dan nodded, letting Phil know that he was right. “Millie needs to stay one day more here, but after tomorrow we will be home.”

“That way I can show you my game collection Evan! My dad just bought the new Mario game!” Millie told his new friend, who shared her excitement by telling her that he hadn’t had the chance to play it yet.

“Look at you two, I could even say you could be best friends by now!” Amelia said to them, oblivious to Evan and Millie’s rivalry.

With that Evan held out his hand and offered it to Millie, “friends?”

“Friends” Millie replied, shaking it a bit before laughing.

“Why do you two look so surprised?” Amelia asked their dads who just shook their heads and looked at the kids again, who were talking about some random thing again as if thei had been friends forever.

It had been something out of a movie to be honest.

________________

It had been a week since Millie got out of the hospital and Dan was exhausted. Their house had stairs, and even though only their bedrooms were upstairs it was such and invonvinience for Dan, because evertytime Millie needed to use the bathroom, or have a shower or even watch TV he had to pick her up, make it safely downstairs and move her around. The hospital had lend them a wheelchair so Millie could move around the house, but their hallways were so narrow the wheelchair couldn’t be opened properly; so Dan was the one carrying her around.

Moreover, he had to make sure that Millie took her medication at the right times and did a bit of exercise so her leg could get stronger before the took out the cast. Oh, and he also needed to finish work. At least he worked from home.

Every morning he woke up to a text from Phil, asking him how they were, in which he always lied and told him they were fine, when Dan was almost falling asleep in the hallway.

Today it was friday and Dan was helping Millie do her exercises when the question came up, “Dad, do you think Evan could come today to hang out?”

Oh, right. They had talked about Evan coming and painting Millie’s cast in the hospital. Today was Friday so he supposed the Lesters weren’t busy. He could always ask. “Yeah I can send Phil a text now, see if they don’t have any other plans.”

“Can Evan stay to sleep too? Please dad, tomorrow is Saturday and we don’t have school!” Millie pleaded him, “He could help me catch up with all I have missed, please!”

That was a good point. Millie had been missing school and probably it would be good for her having help so she wouldn’t be behind once she came back.

“Okay, I will ask his father after lunch, now lets continue the exercises, alright?” Dan conceded, offering her a smile which hs daughter returned.

It was going to be a long Friday after all.

________________

Dan had texted Phil and yes, as he suspected they weren’t busy and Evan had also been bugging him to bring him to see Millie, so both kids were excited to have a sleepover later.

At 6pm Dan opened the door to the cheerful Lester’s who were waving enthusiastically at him. “Hi you two, come on in.”

“Thank you for letting me stay with Millie, Mr. Howell” Evan said politely, clutching his over-night backpack closer.

“Evan, you are always welcome here and call me Dan please, Mr. Howell makes me feel old” Dan replied, making all of them laugh. “Now go, Millie is waiting for you upstairs.”

And with that Evan hugged his dad goodbye and sprinted to Millie’s bedroom, leaving the dads alone.

“Dan I know we agreed that Evan could stay the night and all but are you sure?” Phil asked after noticing the bags under Dan’s eyes. The texts said he was okay, but now Phil knew he had been lying to him, “you seem tired and I don’t want to put another responsibility on you.”

“What? No, Phil. Evan can stay really. Yeah, I’m a bit tired but I’m okay don’t worry. You can come back for Evan tomorrow.” Dan said, not really wanting to tell Phil that he was exhausted and wanted to sleep for almost three days.

“Okay then, call me if there is something wrong. See you tomorrow then…” and with that Phil waved back and headed to his car, not taking his gaze off of Dan, who was waving back at him from the front door.

He only closed it once the car was out of his sight.

________________

It had been a complete evening for the three of them. They had played videogames, Evan had painted Millie’s cast and little Lester had also helped Dan making dinner. Who would have thought that a seven year old could even cook well?

The were all now sleeping but it was only when Evan felt a hand on his shoulder, waking him up. “Evan… Evan wake up…”

“Wha…?” a sleepy faced Evan looked at his friend from the spare bed Dan had set up for him.

“Could you wake my dad? I need to use the toilet and I don’t want to shout.” she asked him, who nodded at her and rose from the bed, his sock claded feet not making any sound.

Once he reached Dan’s bedroom he knocked, but couldn’t hear a come in, so he waited a bit before opening the door and he didn’t expect what he saw. Millie’s dad was shaking while sleeping, moving around in his bed as if he was running from someone. His face expressed pain and sadness. He was also repeating the sentence “No, please, not again”

Evan walked up to him, and even though he was scared he called out hor him “Mr. Howell… Dan…” but he wasn’t waking up, so he did the only other thing he could think about, he jumped to the end of the bed and crawled to Dan’s chest, putting his hands there to make him still, “Dan!” he finally said, loud enough the the adult woke up, sitting up and rubbing his eyes before looking a his right and finding Evan there.

“Evan what…?”

“Millie wanted to go to the bathroom and she asked me to ask you because she didn’t want to shout so I entered and you were shaking and I think you were having a bad dream and I had to wake you up and it was so scary…” Evan rushedly told him. It had been terrifying to see his friend’s dad like that.

Dan looked at him. Evan was right, he had been having a nightmare. He had been having nightmares since the day they arrived home from the hospital. That was another thing to add to the list of why Dan wasn’t getting enough sleep.

The brown haired realized he had been silent for a long time when Evan asked him another question, “are you okay now?”

Dan looked back at him and realized the scared expression Evan had on his face. He was sure he had scared the child with his nightmare too. “Hey, yes, come here” Dan said as he opened his arms to Evan, who looked like he really needed a comforting hug. Evan climbed to Dan and hugged him, instantly relaxing against him.

After a minute, Evan deattached himself from the hug finally realizing why he had come in there, “Dan! Millie needed to use the toilet!” he reminded him.

“Oh my God, we better go now!” and with that both of them climbed down the bed and rushed to the bedroom, where Dan picked Millie faster that he had done before and ran downstairs to the bathroom.

________________

Once Dan and Millie came back, Evan was already on bed again, but he wasn’t sleeping yet. He felt the need to tell his friend what was worng. Maybe she could help her dad, who knows.

“If you need the bathroom again just shout, okay Millie? Don’t worry” and with that Dan gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the room wishing them good night.

“Millie” he whispered, trying to catch his friend’s attention before she fell asleep.

“What? You can’t sleep?” Millie asked back.

“No, it’s not that, it’s about your dad.” he replied.

“What!? Is something wrong with him?” she almost shouted, looking back at Evan who was already looking at her.

“I don’t know, it’s just that when I went to wake him up he was having a nightmare, and it was so scary Millie… he was shaking and I had to wake him.” Evan explained quietly, “did he have nightmares before?”

Millie seemed surprised, “I don’t think so… what do you think we should do? I don’t want my dad having nightmares every night…”

“Maybe we could ask my dad, maybe he knows what to do” Evan commented, hoping his friend would agree.

“Yeah, maybe… you can ask him tomorrow when he comes and I can beg my dad to let me call you later or something, what do you think?” Millie suggested.

“Let’s try that but now,” Evan’s sentence was cut off by a yawn, “I need to sleep… night Millie.”

“Night Evan” she whispered back, falling back to sleep.

________________

It was Saturday and Dan was making lunch while calling Phil to talk about what time he could pick Evan up. “I can be there around 5 if that’s okay.”

“Yeah of course, 5 is fine by me” Dan agreed.

“Can I speak to him for a few minutes? I miss my ginger monkey” Phil asked him, making both of them laugh at the nickname.

“Yeah wait, I will go get him” Dan said as he walked towards the lounge where Millie and him were watching a movie. “Evan, your dad is on the phone, he wants to talk to you.”

At this Evan jumped off the sofa and Dan handed him the phone, walking back to the kitchen to give them some privacy.

“Hey dad!” the little Lester said to him, making his dad smile.

“How are you Evan? Did you have a good night at the Howell’s?” Phil asked.

“Well, I…” Evan started, looking at Millie and seeing her nod. Now they had the opportunity to tell Phil about Dan’s nightmares so they weren’t going to let it pass, “Millie woke me up in the middle of the night because she needed the toilet and I went to get Dan but…”

“But? Did something happen Evan?” Phil tried not to show his worry on the phone but it was difficut when your son stopped speaking mid-sentence.

“But I entered the room and he was having a nightmare and it was really scary dad, he was shaking and speaking and I had to wake him up. Millie is really worried and I…” Evan explained quickly, looking back at the kitchen, making sure Dan didn’t hear him.

Phil didn’t really know what to say. Dan told him he was okay, and even though he had noticed he was tired he didn’t expect it was also because he had been getting almost no sleep due to the nightmares.

“Hey Evan don’t worry, I will try to talk to him about it when I go and pick you up okay?”

“Okay dad, thank you.”

“Now give the phone back to Dan, we will see each other in a few hours, okay?” Phil said in a sweet voice.

Evan hummed in agreement and walked back to the kitchen, where Dan picked up the phone and said his 'goodbyes’ to Phil.

________________

The clock just ticked 5pm when the doorbell of the Howell household rang. Dan opened the door to a smiley Phil, “Hey, come on in,” Dan said in a soft voice, “they are having a nap right now, hope you don’t mind… You want a coffee or something before you and Evan go?”

“Oh, a coffee would be fine, thank you.” Phil was sure he would need something to maintain the conversation he was about to have with Dan.

“The lounge is that way, it will be a moment” Dan signed the room where the lounge was before disappearing to the kitchen.

Phil had made himself comfortable in the sofa when Dan entered the room with two mugs and put them both on the coffee table, “they are super hot, even though I like hot coffee I think it’s better let them cool a bit.” Dan chuckled.

“How was Evan? Was he any trouble?” Phil asked, looking at the bags under Dan’s eyes that were more marked and purplely than the other day.

“Oh no, he was an angel Phil really, I don’t know why Millie and him didn’t get on well on the first place.” that made the both of them laugh. The fact that in a few days the both of them had become inseparable was unbelievable. Also, Phil and he had also bonded really well, so it was a bonus.

After the conversation turned to a few other topics Phil finally decided to talk to Dan about the nightamares.

“Look Dan, when I talked to Evan today on the phone he told me something that has been bugging me and I promised Evan I would talk to you about it.”

“What is it?” Dan was scared. Had he said something to Evan that could have hurt him?

“Evan told me that he went to wake you up and you were having a nightmare and that it was scary I just…” but Dan didn’t let him finish.

“I’m so sorry Phil I scared your child with a nightmare I had, I’m sorry,” Dan’s eyes started to water, “he came to wake me up because Millie needed the bathroom and I was having a nightmare and I just can’t stop haing them after the accident and they are so freaking terrifying…”

Phil saw how Dan was getting worked up because of this so he grabbed his hand, caressing it a bit as he had done back at the hospital. “Hey, it’s okay. You want to tell me what it was about? Maybe it could help you if you talk about it?”

Dan gulped and nodded before talking. “It’s always the same thing. I see Millie falling over, breaking her leg and then she hits her head but this time it’s not just a scratch I can see how her skull breaks and…” Dan was sobbing now. As he had explained before, it was horrifying just the thought about it.

Phil was almost crying with Dan at this point. He couldn’t imagine the pain he was going through just talking about it so he brought him into a hug and caressed his hair to calm him down like he had seen Amelia do days before and apparently it was working, Dan’s breath was returning back to normal at least.

Once Dan had relaxed enough Phil grabbed him by the shoulders so he could look at his brown eyes. “Promise me that if you have another nightmare you will call me.”

Dan was about to protest but Phil didn’t let him. “Promise you will call me, doesn’t matter what time it is, just call me okay?”

Dan just nodded before lifting a hand and cleaning his tear-stained cheeks. “Sorry for crying on you.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Phil lifted his hand and cleaned a lone tear that was making his was down Dan’s left cheek.

Dan was about to thank Phil when they heard little steps down the stairs, a sleepy Evan making an appearance in the lounge, “Dad? Is it time to go?” he asked before yawning.

“I think so ginger lion,” Phil chuckled, opening his arms so Evan could climb into them and sit on his lap.

“I though I was ginger monkey dad” Evan protested, pouting a bit.

“With that messy hair on top of your hair you don’t look much like a monkey I would say” and both adults laughed at the sight of Evan trying to tame his hair.

“Okay, let’s say good bye to Millie and let Dan rest, okay?” Phil commented, putting Evan down on the floor before both adults followed him to Millie’s bedroom.

Once they had all said proper good byes Phil turned to Dan while Evan walked back to the car. “Do you rememeber what you have to do if you have a nightmare?”

“Yes, I do Phil. I will call you.” Dan playfully swatted him on the chest while trying to looks serious and annoyed at him, but not being able to fight the smile that was appearing on his face, “now go, your little ginger monkey is waiting for you.”

“See you soon Dan.”

“See you soon Phil.”

And with that the front door was closed.

________________

It was three days later when it happened. Dan had been getting a few days of good sleep but it seemed like today wasn’t one fo them.

He woke up panting. The nightmare had become stronger and now he could hear Millie’s screams and it was all more graphic. He picked up the phone and looked at the time, 2:40am it said. He though about calling Phil. He had told him that he could call but he couldn’t deny it still felt like he was bothering him.

“No, I’m gonna try and sleep again” he said to himself, leaning back into the pillows and rearranging the sheets.

But as soon as he closed his eyes the images from the bad dream came up flashing to his head, making him jump again and this time picking up the phone and seraching Phil’s contact before dialing.

“Pick up please…” he whispered onto nothing, clutching his phone as close as he could to his ear.

“Dan?” Phil’s deep voice said at the other line.

“Sorry to call you now but you told me I could and I had a nightmare and…” Dan started to explain, his voice trembling remebering the new images that had appeared.

“Hey, Dan it’s okay, don’t worry,” Phil reassured him, “now, copy my breathing over the phone, can you do that?”

“Yeah I think” his voice already a bit stronger.

Phil started inhaling and exhaling air calmly, Dan copying him. After a few minutes Phil started telling him a fairytale, which made Dan laugh but Phil shushed him and Dan let him tell the story. He could feel how his eyelid were closing again.

“You alright? Do you need anything more?” Phil asked him, in a quiet and soft voice.

Dan just realeased an hum, not indicating if it was a 'yes’ or a 'no’, so Phil was about to ask again when he heard Dan’s sleepy voice “thank you Phil.”

“You are welcome Dan, now sleep.”

Phil made sure he ended up the phone call, but not before he listened to Dan’s soft snores that indicated that he was already in deep sleep.

________________

It had been already two weeks since Dan called Phil because of a nightmare. He had been sleeping a bit better. He didn’t call Phil again, just sent him texts before calling him and with the silly text Phil would send him were enough to make him forget about his nightmare. Also, they had been texting each other non-stop since the call happened and it was helping their friendship blossom.

Now, Dan and Millie were at the hospital again to see how her leg was doing and see if they could give her crutches instead of the wheelchair.

“At least if I get crutches you won’t have to make so many effort to carry me around, dad,” Millie told him as they were waiting for the doctor.

“Millie, I don’t mind carrying you around. You are always my first priority, cast or no.” Dan told her, caressing her hair.

“Yeah but dad, you are exhausted. You carry me around all the time and since Evan told me about the nightmare I worry…” Millie confessed. She had been preocupied about her dad since the day Evan told her he hand found him shaking in his sleep.

Dan sighed. He supposed Evan would tell her about the bad dream, how could he not? They were friends now. Dan didn’t want to worry Millie with his own problems, she had enough with her broken leg. “Look Millie, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.”

“But dad…” she didn’t get to say more because a nurse’s voices called them into the room. Dan hoped they would get her crutches. 

As soon as they left the hospital Dan felt a bit of relief. Millie was fine, she was healthy and her leg was healing okay so it was an improvement. “C'mon, we should celebrate with something now that they gave you crutches!” Dan said excitedly as they entered their home. Millie walking awkwardly in front of him.

“Can Evan and I do a sleepover again?” she turned around to face him, “Now that I have crutches we could so some exploring in the garden for our nature class!”

“Okay, but on one condition,” Dan lifted a finger, “if you go exploring and your leg starts to hurt you will immediately tell me.”

“Thank you dad!” Millie smiled widely at him and almost jumped but had to stop because with the crutches was impossible.

“Careful! Now, let’s have pizza or something, I don’t want to cook…” Dan said, as he walked to the kitchen, giving Millie a kiss on the top of her head on the way to it.

________________

It was another Friday in the Howell household and Evan was staying over this time. The kids had spent the day exploring the garden as they had talked about some days before. As they were distracted Dan was relieved that Millie was more independent with the crutches, but that didn’t mean he was less tired.

This meant that he had to catch up on everything he hadn’t done while Millie couldn’t walk by herself and that, for Dan, had been exhausting. Tones of laundry needed to be done, multiple trips to the grocery store, work that he hadn’t finished yet, cleaning almost the whole house… It was exhausting.

Now the kids were already in bed and sleeping. After being walking around the garden the whole day had also been tiring for them. Dan walked to his bed and was trying to sleep, but he couldn’t and after an hour of trying he walked downstairs to the bathroom and took a sleeping pill he had found. “I hope this works a miracle or something…”

He walked back to bed, now with a slight headache but, it was strong enough to make him fall asleep.

It was a few hours later when the nightmare came back, now stronger than ever. It started the same, Millie tripping, breaking her leg and hitting her head against a rock, but now someone was speaking to him in a deep voice, telling him what a bad father he was and Millie was repeating the words to him.

He woke up crying and he didn’t even think of it twice. He grabbed the phone and called Phil instantly while he clutched a pillow to his body trying to muff the sound that were escaping him.

“Dan! Did something happen to Evan?” Phil’s alarmed voice sounded over the phone. It was alte so it didn’t surprise Dan that Phil was worried about his son’s well being.

“E-Evan is okay. It-it’s m-me.” Dan’s shaky voice said.

“Dan, do you want to try what we did last time? Copy my breathing?” Phil proposed, but he noticed Dan was sobbing onto something that could be a blanket to quiet the sounds, not letting him speak. It was worrying.

After a few minutes Phil had had enough of listening to his friend violently crying and he made the decision, “that’s it, I’m coming over.”

That’s when something ticked into Dan, “I… Phil…”

“No, I’m coming and that’s final, you cannot stay like this. See you in a minute Dan.” and with that he hung up.

He didn’t care if he got a speed limit ticket for this. He needed to get to Dan.

________________

Phil arrived to Dan’s house in the blink of and eye. He got out of his car, lifted the doormat that when he knew Dan left a spare key, opened the door and quietly walked upstairs. He quickly located Dan’s bedroom door and carefully opened it, finding a crying Dan in bed with a pillow clutched to his chest.

“Dan,” Phil said in the quietest voice possible while approaching him and sitting next to him on the bed.

“Phil,” the brown haired looked surprisedly at him, not believing Phil had come, “Phil…” Dan repeated again before launching himself into the blue eyed’s arms only to start crying again. Phil hugged him back as close as he could, moving them both so that now they were both lying horizontally on the matress.

Once Phil noted that Dan was calming down he separated their bodies a bit so they could look at each other, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Dan though about it decided that yes, he could trust Phil with this. He needed to get it our fo his brain. “I took a sleeping pill because I couldn’t sleep and I think the secondary effects of it caused the nightmare to get stronger somehow, and it was the same as last time Millie falling over, her leg breaking, hitting her head but this time a voice was speaking over…” Dan took a shaky breath before continuing, “it was telling me how a bad father I am and then Millie was repeating it to me and I…”

Dan started crying again, but he wasn’t making any sound, just tears were falling to the pillow that he was laying on.

“I’m not the best dad ever, I know that,” Dan said in a hoarse voice from crying, “I know Millie could do with a better dad, I mean, look at me crying at 3am because of a nightmare, I would understand if she didn’t want me as a dad anym…” but his speech was cut off by a pair or lips over his. A pair of lips that belonged to Phil. He didn’t dare to move. He was to shocked to do anything and before he knew it it was over.

“Millie has the best dad she could have asked for. You are not a bad dad. Stop believing that. She couldn’t ask for a better dad, I’m sure of that.” Phil told him, both still a bit in shock about what had happened.

“I’m sorry I kissed you, I didn’t know how to stop your rambling…” the blue eyed apologized, his cheeks getting a bit red coloured even though they couldn’t see each other much in the darkness of the room.

“Don’t apologize for that. Don’t ever apologize for kissing me.” and with that Dan brought a hand to Phil’s neck, bringing their mouths closer in another shy kiss, rolling them a bit so Dan’s back was touching the matress, Phil’s half body on top.

Once the kiss was over Phil leaned in again, “You. Are. Not. A. Bad. Dad.” he punctuated every word with a kiss, making the brown eyed smile a bit.

“Stay?” Dan asked him shyly, caressing his neck a bit trying to convince him “it’s late…”

Phil nodded and started standing up to go to the lounge couch but Dan caught his pajama shirt with the free hand that wasn’t on Phil’s neck “stay with me, please”

“Okay, I will.” and with that he dived into another kiss, now exploring their mouths deeper, biting each other’s lips, their tongues caressing.

They ended up cuddling under the monochrome duvet, stealing a few kisses through the night. But, Dan had to say he finally had a good nights sleep since the accident happened. 

________________

It was early. Too early for a Saturday, in fact.

Millie checked the alarm clock on her nightstand, a green 7:43am flickered repeatedly. She let our a frustrated groan and decided that she would let Evan sleep while she watched some cartoons downstairs, so, she grabbed her crutches and waddled her way onto the hallway where she heard someone snoring? From his father’s room? Wait, her dad didn’t snore or if he did he didn’t do it that loudly.

After her dad had the nightmares he was worried about him… what if the snore meant he was having one? She needed to see that her father was sleeping peacefully.

Millie walked awkwardly to the door, fiddled with the crutches before managing to open the door only to find two figures peacefully sleeping on the bed. What was even happening? She took a few steps closer only to see that the other figure next to his father was… “Phil?” she said out loud, her voice squeaky enough to wake both of them up.

“What? Millie you okay?” Dan said as she spotted her at the end of the bed, forgetting a confused Phil next to him.

“I just heard someone snoring and you don’t snore and I was confused so I came to check…” Millie replied a bit embarrassed.

Dan let out a little 'oh’ and looked at Phil, whose cheeks were pink as he scooted to the other side a bit, so he and Dan weren’t that close.

“Phil came because I had a very ugly nightmare and he stayed, just as Evan. We had a sleepover too.” He didn’t dare to explain more. He and Phil hadn’t really talked about what happened and didn’t want to imply something that could affect both of them later on.

Suddenly a sleepy Evan appeared next to Millie, “oh here you are, I woke up and you weren’t there and I couldn’t find you anywh…” but he stopped speaking as he saw that his dad was with Dan in bed? “Dad? What are you doing here? You are not supposed to pick me up till noon.”

“Hi Evan” Phil replied, now his face resembling a tomato. He didn’t expect Evan to appear now, “I… Dan had a bad dream so he called me and I came to see if he was alright and we ended up having a sleepover like you guys!” Phil explained in the most uncomfortable way possible.

“How about I make us breakfast, eh? Come on kids, I will need your help…” and with that Dan left the room with their kids, leaving a confused and embarrassed Phil bury his face onto the pillows again.

________________

Evan and Millie were exploring the garden again while their fathers awkwardly evaded each other’s gazes. The were watching a movie. Well, neither of them was watching it, they were thinking about what happened last night. They had kissed (a lot) and they ended up cuddling in Dan’s bed and if it wasn’t for Millie’s interruption in the morning both of them were sure they would have kissed again.

“Look, I can’t stay silent” Phil suddenly said, moving a bit so he was now facing Dan, who also turned as soon as  ’'yes, we kissed yesterday and I enjoyed it and I think you enjoyed it to and I…“

’'You what?” Dan asked softly seeing as Phil had stopped speaking.

“I think I wanna try something more with you, like a relationship, only if you want to of course. I think I’m ready to have one with someone and I think we could try…” he wanted to end his little ramble but his sentence was cut off by Dan, who grabed him by the cheeks and pulled him into a deep kiss.

“I think I also want to try something more with you,” he whispered into the other’s lips.

They both smiled into another kiss before separating again, “you think we should tell them now?” the blue eyed asked, refering to their kids.

“I think we should enjoy us for a bit before telling them, if you agree… boyfriend” Dan blushed at the word. He hadn’t say that for so long it sounded foreign in his mouth.

“I agree, boyfriend” Phil repeated before leaning in for another kiss.

They only separated when they heard the hallway floor creak, alerting them of the two other people in the house.

________________

It had already been a month and Millie’s leg had healed so well she didn’t need a cast anymore. She was free! She sometimes still needed the crutches but otherwise she could walk fine. They were now at Evan’s house, both of them playing a new videogame. It was a nice change of scenery after being in her bed for so long.

Dan and Phil were chatting in the kitchen. The blue eyed was making some sandwiches for them all when Dan distracted him by coming up behind him and putting his hands on his hips.

“Dan…” he protested, but he leaned into the other’s touch.

“What?” he softly whispered into Phil’s ear, making him lean further into Dan’s chest.

“You are distracting me…”

“Oh? Am I?” the brown haired feigned innocence by nipping on Phil’s neck and kissing it, making him drop the utensil he was holding and turning around before attacking Dan’s mouth.

Dan smiled onto the multiple kisses Phil was giving him now as he tried to get away but the black haired grabbed him by the waist and brought him closer, “Don’t you dare Daniel Howell!”

He let out a small scream as Phil kissed him again, this time deeply both enjoying the sensation of their lips and tongues together.

“Dad! Are you okay!?” they heard two high-pitched screams coming from the kitchen doorway and rapidly separated, almost as they had burned each other, but the two little figures had already seen how they had been kissing.

“Care to explain, dad?” Millie spoke first, crossing her arms and lifting one of her eyebrows.

“Ermm…” Dan looked lost. He and Phil had agreed to not tell them anything for a while and he was ready to let them know but he didn’t know if Phil was ready so he looked at him, who only nodded as if he had read his mind, “yes, Phil and I are together, but it’s really new for both of us so please don’t be mad for not telling you.”

“I’m not mad, I’m surprised, but I like that you two are together.” Millie said, a small smile appearing on her face.

Phil looked at Evan who hadn’t said anything yet. “Evan?” he tentatively asked, a bit scared of what his son could say.

“I’m happy for you dad, just as Millie said a bit surprised, but I really like you being with Dan.” he finally said.

Both adults released a big puff of breath. It was a relief that both kids had accepted their relationship so easily.

“But now stop kissing each other and bring us the sandwiches you have promised us!” they heard Evan’s voice from the hallway, making both of them laugh while their faces turned red.

________________ 

They had been dating each other for three months already. They had gone on dates, they had stayed at the other’s house which always ended up in a sleepover with their kids to be honest. It had been great to be fair.

They were coming back from their last date and Phil was driving. They had left the kids with Amelia at Dan’s house, who was hyped to learn that his son and Phil had gotten together.

“I cannot believe you said that…” Dan bitterly said to his boyfriend. Yes, they had gone on a date that had gone terrible and now they were arguing.

“What? You were also saying nonsense things Dan!” Phil said back, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Yeah, whatever Phil.” he spit, tired of arguing. They both had had really two tiring weeks and they had been arguing back and forth, “we always end up arguing, I don’t even know why we speak anymore!”

“Neither do I! Maybe we should end this and stop speaking for good!” Phil said, not even daring to look at Dan.

“Fine.” Dan muttered, not really wanting to break up with Phil. He didn’t want to but if they kept arguing it would be the best. For them and their kids.

“Fine.” Phil repeated, wanting to hit himself on the head for saying that. He didn’t want to break up with Dan but the anger clouded his mind. It was true they had been arguing for days and their relationship was really new.

As soon as they knew it they arrived to Dan’s house, where they both entered, serious faces on. “Evan, let’s go.” the blue eyed called for him, who approached him cautiously when he saw the serious expression on his father’s face. Evan just looked back at Millie, who waved at him and came to greet his father, who was also looking serious.

“See you.” she said to him, as her friend and his dad made his way out of the door.

________________

“How is your dad doing? Mine didn’t stop crying till 2am I think…” Millie was telling Evan. It was the next Monday and they were at the school playground, both drawing patterns with chalk on the floor.

“Mine is also moping around. They broke up and well, he explained it to me a bit, that it had been mutual but he didn’t really want to.” Evan said, picking another coloured chalk.

“My dad said the same! That he didn’t want to but they had been arguing non-stop and that it was for the best.” she explained.

Evan pulled out a thinking face before speaking again, “do you think we should try to get them together again?”

“How? They aren’t talking to each other and even if we ask to hang out they wouldn’t want to stay around.” Millie said a bit sadly.

“Maybe if we start pranking each other in class they would meet again! Like it happened in the old times!” Evan exclaimed.

“Oh! I like the idea! But all the pranks will be fake, right? I don’t want to stop being friends.” Millie told him. Her friendship with Evan was great, she didn’t want to miss what they had.

“Of course, for the fake pranks” Evan handed her a hand, which she shook.

“For the fake pranks.”

________________

It was Wednesday and the kids were going on a school trip tomorrow to sleep at the aquarium? That was new. Phil was packing what Evan would need for it when he received a call from the school. All the alarms went off in his head, something had happened to Evan for sure. He was told that Evan and Millie had been fighting again and they had to meet with their parents this afternoon so there wouldn’t be any “altercation” in tomorrow's trip.

When he arrived to the headmasters office Dan was already there, clutching Millie to his chest while Evan sat in the other chair waiting for him. “Evan are you okay?” he said, picking him up and hugging him, looking for some scratches.

“Yes dad, I’m okay. Just a bit of paint on my clothes.” he explained, looking angrily at Millie, who was just picking her nails.

Dan was looking at the Lesters. He hadn’t seen Phil in a few days and he had missed him. When he received the call that Millie was in trouble he swore that he wouldn’t let his feelings for Phil be in the middle but it wasn’t working.

Phil sat down on the seat that Evan had been occupying, attentively listening to what the headmaster was saying. Partly because he didn’t really want to focus on Dan. He had felt the butterflies inside his stomach when he spotted him in the room. He missed him, a lot.

Once the headmaster’s speech was over the both stood up without a word and headed back to their cars.

________________

It was the next day when both kids sat defeatedly on their respective bus seats, next to each other, as they had asked a few days before.

“I cannot believe our plan didn’t work… I think we should fake fight on this trip also, maybe it could work.” Millie said to Evan, who was distractedly looking out of the window so seeing she didn’t have his attention she posed a hand on his forearm “Hey, you okay?”

Evan startled at her, “Sorry, I just miss them being together you know? I think they both looked really happy… Remember when we found them kissing in the kitchen? It was so funny and they looked happy…”

“Yeah, I also think so. If the fake fighting doesn’t work we should try and have another plan, what do you think?”

Evan nodded, taking out a little notebook and pen he carried around from his backpack, “okay, let’s think.”

________________

Both dads were missing their children. Seeing each other the other day at the school hadn’t been easy for either of them and now being separated form their little munchkins was making them sad.

Phil had gone to sleep an hour ago but he wasn’t really sleepy so he kept playing games with his phone when a call came in. It was Dan. What? Why was he calling him now? Should he pick up? He decided that yes. Even if they broke up it could be important…

“Dan?” he quietly spoke to the phone, as if he was afraid.

“Ph-Phil… I’m sor-sorry.” Dan’s ragged voice said over the phone as if he was crying. Did something happen to him?

“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I ha-had a nightma-re”

Phil was worried now. The last time Dan had a nightmare he had to come over to calm him down and this time it didn’t sound any better.

“Do you want me to come over?” he asked on an impulse.

“Please…” Dan said before letting a sob overtake his body.

That was it, Phil was coming. He didn’t care if they weren’t together, Dan needed someone and that someone was him.

“See you in a minute Dan.” and with that he ended up the call.

________________

Dan had went early to sleep today. He missed Millie and didn’t want to think much about it so he went to bed as soon as he had dinner. Apparently he had been more tired than he had realized and ended up sleeping peacefully for a few hours already when a nightmare decided to appear.

This time it was different. It wasn’t Millie falling over. It was Phil and their kids. All three were holding hands at the end of a cliff and were about to jump. Dan was running to them but he couldn’t reach them on time, and saw how they jumped into the pointy rocks under the cliff, graphic enought to wake him up with his own scream.

Heavily crying and without hesitation he picked up the phone and called Phil. He didn’t care if they broke up. He needed to make sure he was okay.

Phil picked up and he realised that was okay. Phil was fine. But that didn’t stop him from crying. The cries turned into sobs, making Phil worry and come to him. And before he knew it a pyjama claded Phil appeared on his bedroom doorway, walking to him and engulfing him onto the warmest hug he had received, laying them both on the matress, a hand caressing his hair telling him he was okay. Once Dan had calmed down, he hugged Phil closer, not wanting to let go.

“You wanna talk about it?” Phil softly asked him.

“You were with Millie and Evan at the edge of a cliff, I don't even know why,” Dan started speaking. If he didn’t do it now he didn’t think he could do it anytime soon, “I was running to you all, to stop you from diving, but… you jumped to the rocks with them and I…” another sob passed through his body, making Phil hug him even closer.

“I’m sorry, Phil, I’m sorry I didn’t get to you. I’m sorry for all of this mess…” Dan confessed.

“What’s all of this mess? What do you mean?” Phil asked back, finally separating from the hug but not much, just enough so he could look at Dan’s eyes.

“The nightmares and everything. The other day at the office when you entered I realized I didn’t want to break up and I put you through dozens of arguments making you miserable and I’m sorry, you don’t deserve that… I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too Dan. I didn’t want to break up either. I let the anger and stress lead me and I couldn’t control what my words were, and for when I wanted to take them back it was too late.” Phil said to him and it seemed like Dan wanted to speak back but Phil didn’t let him, “I realized that those weeks before we broke up were too stressing for us, and if we add that our relationship was really new I think they were the main reasons why we broke up, but not because we didn’t feel the same…”

Dan agreed. It had been horrible trying to keep up with work, kids and a relationship at the same time and it eneded up exploding just as soon as it started. But, now that they had learned their lesson, they could maybe try again…

“I’ve missed you, you know? Even if they were only a few days” Dan whispered, lifting a hand to caress Phil’s nape.

“I’ve missed you too.” Phil repeated, his hand now caressing Dan’s cheek and cleaning the stray tears that were left there.

“Do you think we could try again? If we argue we talk about it, I don’t want to lose you again, not after having this nightmare…” Dan said, his eyes watering again, “I don't think I could bare losing you all.”

“I think we can and we should…” Phil smiled mischeviously at Dan, leaning as close as he could without touching their lips together, almost saring the same breath, “and you will never lose us, we are here for the long run.”

And with that he closed the gap, getting their lips and tongues discover each other again, soon hands were wandering to places that were yet unexplored, trying to locate every spot that made each of them sigh and moan.

Needless to say that they had to explain to their kids the next morning how they had gotten bruises on their necks…

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this story! You can follow me on Tumblr at irphanfic.tumblr.com to know the updates of my phanfics or if you want to prompt me anything. See you next time! :D


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